Month: April 2014

12 Reasons to Market with Postcards

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1. Awareness

Getting information directly into the hands of the consumer is better and more effective than say, sending an email. With spam filters there is no guarantee the consumer will ever see your email and if it isn’t filtered out, it will likely be deleted before they read it. With postcards, consumers are drawn to the vintage form of communication and won’t be able to help but peruse it, even if only for a moment.

2. Cost Effective

Postcards are less expensive to mail than brochures, and although email is free, when you weigh the scale of target audience reach between mail and email, mail will win hands down.

image0013. Format is Key

A postcard does not need an envelope, so there is no chance of it being discarded unopened before the consumer even gets to see your message.

4. Wow the crowd

A postcard provides ample opportunity to captivate potential consumers with an eye-catching design and critical message. The minimalist format means that no matter what, people are going to see your brand, image, or message – this makes postcards a fabulous choice if you want to catch consumer’s attention.

5. Options galore

You have several different sizing options and choosing an irregular size, namely one that is larger than average, will make it stand out more and set it apart from other typical postcards.

6. Easy to organize

With postage being so affordable for regular mail, it’s easy to apply the same postage across the board to each postcard. For advertising, this is a huge plus because it streamlines the marketing process.

7. The paper

You can choose from several different types of paper thickness. Depending on the feel you are going for, you can stick with the traditional feel of a postcard or bump it up to something that feels sturdier.

8. Choose a finish

Make it shine. Adding a glossy finishing coat to the postcard will help it catch some light and some attention. While matte may be all the rage in many instances, for postcards a glossy finish helps to set this piece of mail apart from everything else a consumer may receive. You don’t want your postcard blending in with the bills, right?

9. Be colorful or classic

Whether you have a colorful design plan or want a classic black and white look, a custom postcard can achieve exactly the feeling you are going for.

10. Familiarity

Postcards are classic and familiar. They remind people of good times, vacations and loved ones. What better note to strike with your advertisement than stirring feelings of nostalgia?

11. Easy to update

This format of advertising is quick and easy to update. Whether your business address changes, or the services you offer, or even your logo, you can update your postcards effortlessly to accommodate any changes your product or business undergoes.

12. It’s easy

Postcards truly are an easy and effective means to market your business or product. They are direct but simple, eye catching and cost-effective. If you are looking to make an impact, consider marketing your business with postcards and us here at iti Direct Mail.

The 10 Hidden Benefits of Using Postcards for Marketing

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Looking for a great new way to market your business that lets you reach out directly to your customers or prospective customers and make them more aware of your products or services? Why not give direct mail postcards a try?

You might ask why you would use postcard marketing for your business instead of the many other marketing techniques out there. Well, there are many benefits to sending direct mail postcards to your clients that you might not think of initially and it can be a way to effectively target your market.

Short and sweet

Messages on postcards are generally short and to the point, which means people don’t have to take too much of their precious time to read it, which increases the chances that your message will be delivered and remembered down the road if your client doesn’t currently need what you are offering.

Build connections

Postcards are the type of thing people often receive from friends far away and thus they come with the impression of a personalized note from somebody who cares about them and is thinking about them. Sending a postcard helps you build a personal relationship with your clients and makes your business seem friendlier. This effect is increased if you are able to target your customers with personalized messages.

Build your brand

Postcards are highly visual, offering plenty of room for logos, images, QR codes and other branding opportunities for your business. You can use your postcards to send people to your website, social media or generally make them aware of your businesses presence and expertise in the area of products or services that you offer. Over time, your customers will start to see you as an authority in your field and will come to trust your brand.

Save money

Direct mail marketing with postcards is a low-cost marketing option that can yield great results, which can be fairly easily measured simply by including a call to action in your postcard message. You can try different messages, measure the results and apply them to future marketing efforts.

Diversify

By sending out postcards on a regular basis, you can change up your message between directing people to your website or social media, offering discounts, gifts or other incentives; inviting them to an event or promoting an article about your business.

If you’re convinced that postcards are the marketing solution for you, you will need a great company to print and distribute them for you. Look no further than iti Direct Mail for all your postcard marketing needs. You’ll get premium thick paper, lots of size options, coating choices and downloadable templates – along with the option for uploading custom designs, with fast printing and shipping.

You can also have the option to have your postcards shipped directly to your customers, saving you time and energy that you can put back into your business operations, improving your business productivity and increasing your chances of success.

11 Tips for Effective Promotional Brochures

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Creating a promotional brochure is an art in itself. There are many things to consider for the purpose of the brochures to the intended audience – let us consider the following tips for effective promotional brochures.

Intent and Audience

The first consideration and possibly the most important tip for effective promotional brochures is identifying the intent. Are we trying to sell a product or service, promote a new or established business or create interest in an event? Once we are clear as to our intentions, we can create the brochure around this. The second tip is to be specific when identifying your audience. For example, if we are planning to create a promotional brochure for an event, we may be focusing on one of two potential audiences – those who will attend the event and those who might be sought after to sponsor the event. The promotional brochure will include different information for either audience – which is why it is important to identify this ahead of time.

Originality and focus on Design: layout, color, font, size, images, type of paper

Your product must stand out – the reality is that people are inundated with ‘junk mail’, with paper they rarely read – unless it catches their eye it is going in the trash– so be original. Choosing a layout that best defines your intent and audience will direct the rest of the development. Once the layout has been chosen, the color, font, size and images need to complement each other. Are you going black and white or color print? Are you using colored paper or white? Are you adding images – clipart or actual photos? What size and style of the font will best achieve your intention? And lastly, specific to design, while it may seem insignificant, the use of recycled papers and materials is relevant to a lot of people.

image001Medium and Distribution

Today, there are many more options with respect to the medium. Some organizations have opted to go with e-brochures distributed through email distribution lists. While others continue to opt for print format and traditional mail outs. You can do everything right in creating the perfect brochure, for effective promotional brochures it is imperative to determine the effectiveness of the said brochure. If you don’t have a strong method for distribution, then you cannot guarantee you will achieve your intent. Once the medium has been chosen, there must be a plan to ensure the widest and most effective form of distribution – this will depend a lot on the medium (electronic versus paper).

To help you create effective promotional brochures – we at iti Direct Mail are dedicated to meeting the needs of our client’s specific printing requirements. We specialize in printing and mailing custom tailored letters for our clients. We can personalize, print, and mail your sales letters to existing clients, past clients, or potential new clients. For more information, contact us today.